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Boutique Baby Gifts

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Not only am I expecting a little one very soon, but some of my friends are also expecting their own little bundles of joy. When Mari was born, one of the most plush gifts we received was this gorgeous baby pink and chocolate flannel paisley stroller blanket with satin binding and a pink satin back. It was beautiful and soft and luxurious. I thought, our Sugarbean is a very lucky girl indeed! I wanted to keep the blanket for myself. ha ha! At the next opportunity to give a gift for a first time mom, I wanted to see about giving a similar blanket. You can imagine my surprise when I searched online and found them priced anywhere from $35-$60 dollars. *OUCH* Similarly, matching burp cloths were $30 for a set of 3. I have seen a set of three go for as little as $15, but you would still have to pay $3 shipping. I like to spend anywhere between $30 and $50 for a baby gift. That falls in line with my budget, unless of course I have 4 baby showers in a month and then, well, I'd be stretched a bit too thin. (Sidenote: What about you all? How much do you spend on a gift for a good friend? How about a gift for a co-worker?)

I took Mari's blanket and inspected it. I tried reverse engineering it as best as I could, but I just kept it on the back burner for a bit. Instead, I opted to spend the money for things on their registry and other small things that I have found helpful to have (mylicon, travel wipes, extra baby nail clippers, saline drops).

Next week, I'm hosting a baby shower for a dear friend. This will be her first child and the gender is going to be a surprise. I had some MONSTER coupons for Jo-Ann's for their President's day sale and they had baby flannel on sale too. (the coupon could be used for your sale items too!) I had planned on going to see if I could score some cute flannel to make Tesla some burp cloths and maybe a stroller blanket. I was inspired by this post. I know she uses knit, but I like how flannel is too. Anyway, while there, I fell in love with two different turquoise and brown prints. I added the numbers in my head and figured I would still be able to gift her something off of her registry AND handmake a gift.

I bought a yard of one flannel print, half a yard of another print, a yard of minky fabric, and 1 package of satin blanket binding. I spent less than $20. I would have spent closer to $15, but I gave away my 50% off any regular item coupon to a stranger thinking that everything I had was on sale. It's ok because I saved that stranger $16 dollars and it further warmed my heart when I saw his teenage daughter walk up and give him a hug. Yeah buddy, you need all the savings you can get! I digress. I must say, I have made burp cloths in the past and embroidered them too. Plain cloth diapers seem to always be in my stash. (I usually buy the 12 pack for around $10-$12.) Lucky for me, the house was quiet on the Sunday afternoon because everyone was napping. I was feeling creative, so I pushed off my laundry to do later on in the evening.

First up, the baby blanket:

You can see the chocolate satin binding, the white minky fabric, and the turquoise and brown flannel print. I learned that I need help with mitering the corners, but other than that, it turned out very nice! The blanket cost me about $17. Again, it would have been less expensive, but the I didn't use the coupon on the binding, which cost $7 a package. It took me about an hour to make it. Knowing how much it cost explains why they cost so much, right?

Next up, the set of three burp cloths:

The one on the left is a plain white diaper with the flannel fabric border. The one in the middle has the white minky fabric back with the same flannel print on the front. The one on the far right has the flannel print running down the center. I really liked how all three of these came out! I used to extra brown ribbon to tie them together. Each burp cloth cost me about $1.25 to make. It took me between 30 and 45 minutes to make them.

I have a bit of extra minky fabric and flannel fabric remaining that I could probably make two more minky/flannel burp cloths and 1 flannel burp cloth.

For around $20 (a little more) and two hours, I was able to make boutique-like gifts that are one of a kind AND handmade. There you have it.